"Borrowers" scene: A while back we were listing projects we were going to do someday - and I just thought of two more I forgot to add to my list - found a box of little household items for a "Borrowers" scene. One of the mini mags did an article some years back with scenes from the Borrowers story, and it was delightful. I've bought 2 movies on the Borrowers (Little people who live in walls and under floors in houses, and they "borrow" whatever they can find to use - they are about dollhouse size and actually use dollhouse furniture if they're lucky enough to live in a home that has a dollhouse) One of the movies was made in England, and the other here in the US with John Goodman in it. The grandkids love those movies, and it occurs to me that this is the perfect project for the grandchildren! - Because it's so imaginative and doesn't require special intricate work. Household items become mini goods. Ideas are endless.

Paulette in IN

1-Ply Yarn: http://www.flowerthread.com/

The above link is for Ginnie Thompson Flower Thread, which I purchased through Tanties in Montreal. It's wonderful stuff! If you go to the "Shops" link from the home page, you'll find a list of where you can purchase this...Tanties is listed for Canada. Also, Joy Parker has yarn for mini knitting and she can be reached at: joy@swallowhills.com and her web site is: http://www.swallowhilldolls.com/indexjoy.htm

Joy Parker also carries the correct size needles as does Tanties... they are wonderful to work with.

Joy in Pointe Claire

The Borrowers: Paulette was talking about doing a 'Borrowers' scene, and I immediately thought of Joan Steiner's Look-Alikes books. If any of you have not seen these, they are worth a look, if not for anything else, just to see the ingenuity of this artist. They are actually children's books, and all of the scenes are made up of found objects. (for example, in one scene, she's used a disposable razor as a vacuum cleaner) While most of us might consider using "parts" of a household object (with much sanding, scraping, and painting), Ms. Steiner just puts the whole thing in there, and the results are really delightful. She does use miniatures in her scenes as well, but not very many, mostly she uses just things you might find around the house. I think she is the ultimate "Borrower"!

Deena in Miami

The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe - I have a pair of old high top ladies' boots or shoes. I think it will need to be in 1/2" scale, to get a lot of children in it. But I do fully intend to do that scene one of these days. I'm going to mount the shoe on a piece of plywood, which will become the yard - and cut windows and door in the shoe and put frames around - and I'll have to have a roof with a chimney pipe. Wish I could work on it today, but I'm working on dolls for a July show coming up. Business first, fun later.

Paulette in IN

Psychic's Shop: I don't know yet if I'm going to do it in a particular period. I've got a crystal ball, mini tarot cards, an incense burner *remind me to tell you how I did the smoke*. I'm wondering if any of you have any particular knowledge of where to get mini printables of things like astrological charts and maybe a chart of the palmreading symbols. A dear mini friend gave me a kit of a beautiful brown-skinned doll, but I think I'll use her for some other project -- it would be too tempting to try to do a voodoo queen, and I know absolutely zilch about that. Any suggestions at all will be hugely appreciated.

Vicki Horiuchi

Church Furniture, Accessories, and Miniatures. http://photos.yahoo.com/cjandke They are located in the Creations icon.

Kristyn Bayonet Pt. FL

Heidi

Fernwood catalogue: An old Fernwood furniture catalogue is viewable online at
http://catalogs.google.com/catalogs?dq=&hl=en&lr=&issue=8513&catpage=cover&catview=2

Maureen in St. Albert AB Cda

Fernwood Miniatures: I have used many of Fern's kits over the years, and indeed am responsible for getting her to create some of them. They are by far the BEST kits anywhere for 1" scale furniture. Everything is done exactly as in life size, right down to dovetailed drawers. You can get her catalogue by sending a LSASE with two stamps to:
Fernwood Miniatures
12730 Finlay Rd. NE
Silverton, OR 97381

Beth, In A Miniature Manor

MicroMark's Smoke Generator: Here's the link, in case someone might be interested. The stack is removable.
http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/products/82602.html

Theresa